The Real Reason Game Of Thrones Will Be So Fast-Paced In Season 7

For avid TV consumers, one of the most exciting aspects of the summer months is the prospect of summer shows returning to the small screen. And no summer show is as highly anticipated or commonly watched as HBO's Game of Thrones. With just two short(er) season left of the fantasy drama, it looks like the story of Westeros is soon coming to an end, and the upcoming seventh season will be particularly satisfying for one main reason: the pace. While Game originally moved slowly though George R.R. Martin's novels, all that is about to change with the final seasons. Although this change isn't due to the shorter episode count, but because the action within the setting of the series is escalating so quickly. Winter is here, and so is the War To Come.

Game of Thrones co-creator and showrunner Dan Weiss recently spoke to EW about the upcoming Season 7, where the subject of pacing was eventually brought up. It's here that he revealed why the pace will be so much quicker this season, saying:

Things are moving faster because in the world of these characters the war that they've been waiting for is upon them. The conflicts that have been building the past six years are upon them and those facts give them a sense of urgency that makes [the characters] move faster.

Well, this certainly makes sense. Apparently the past six seasons have been largely set up, and now we can see how the various characters finally interact and intersect. And with the combined action of the war for the Iron Throne and the upcoming battle against the Night's King and his army of the dead, there's definitely no excuse for slow pacing at this point.

This change of pace actually began last season. Season 6 contained a ton of payoffs, especially for the Stark family. We saw Sansa and Jon finally reunite, discover the unfortunate state of Rickon, and ultimately destroy House Bolton and reclaim Winterfell. After seeing the wolves get crapped on for the past 6 years, this type of change was extremely satisfying. Additionally, the season finale saw Cersei ascend to the Iron Throne while Dany FINALLY begin sailing/flying to Westeros.

David Benioff also spoke to the change in pacing, making it clear that the wars that were referenced throughout the first few seasons were already upon us. He said,

For a long time we've been talking about the wars to come. Well, that war is pretty much here. So it's really about trying to find a way to make the storytelling work without feeling like we're rushing it --- you still want to give characters their due, and pretty much all the characters that are now left are all important characters. Even the ones who might have started out as relatively minor characters have become significant in their own right.

This is pretty damn exciting. We've seen a ton of Game of Thrones characters, so now it appears that the survivors of HBO's popular show will all affect the remainder of the story in a significant way.

Game of Thrones will return for Season 7 on July 16, 2017. Be sure to check out our summer premiere list, and don't miss your favorite summer shows return to the small screen.

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